THECUBAKEVIEW 2» 



THE SUGAR SITUATION IN EUROPE 



The Industrie und Handelszeitung of May 20, 1920, publishes an interesting 

 account on the sugar industry in Germany, of which the following is a condensation: 



Sugar production in Middle Europe has decreased by more than two-thirds of 

 what it was before the war, and the situation of the German sugar industry is even 

 worse. Germany, the one-time sugar exporter par excellence, is unable now to supply- 

 its own needs. The following table shows the amount of sugar produced before and 

 after the war: 



Countries 1913-14 1919-20 



Hunderdweight Hundredweight 



Germany 54,766,000 15,000,000 



Austria Hungary* 33,766,000 11,700,000 



Netherlands 4,628,000 4,760,000 



Sweden 2,744,000 2,900,000 



Denmark 2,914,000 3,200,000 



Belgium , 4,580,000 2,540,000 



Prance 15,620,000 3,-500,000 



Russia* 33,760,000 7,000,000 



Other countries -. 10,856,000 6,000,000 



* Pre-war territorial area. 



This table shows quite clearly that of all countries Germany has sufCered most, 

 having ceded its position as the greatest sugar country of the world to Cuba, which 

 latter increased its sugar production during the war from approximately 52,000,000' 

 to 90,000,000 hundredweight. 



CAUSES OF DECLINE IN GERMAN PRODUCTION 

 The reasons for this regrettable decline in the German sugar industry are mani- 

 fold; taken all together, however, one could classify them as war effects. One of 

 these reasons was the complete failure of the official price policy, a policy that prin- 

 cipally met the demands of the consumer but neglected the sugar-beet farmer and 

 his justified demands completely, thus making the cultivation of beets a most unprofit- 

 able and undesirable business. In connection with this shortage the rising price of 

 artificial fertilizers, particularly nitrogen fertilizers, must be borne in mind. 



The loss of large parts of West Prussia, with Germany's largest sugar factory 

 located in Culmsee, and cession of parts of the Province of Posen to the Poles — 

 territories on which preeminently corn, potatoes, and sugar-beets were raised — • 

 has not only affected the general food supply of the home country, but has also 

 changed the situation of the sugar industry completely. 



SOUTH GERMAN SUGAR PLANTS FORM A COMBINE 



The South German sugar factories suffer by being cut off from the usual beet 

 supply from northern Germany; To meet this calamity the four largest South 

 German sugar concerns, those of Frankenthal, Waghausel, Stuttgart, and Heilbronn, 

 have united under the uniform administration of six men, representing the different 

 concerns, the profits to be divided according to the relative sizes of the works. The 

 program they have set up is a most comprehensive one, including items such as the 

 encouragement of sugar-beet cultivation, the improvement of technical appliances, the 

 introduction of a rational administration of business in a far-sighted manner, plans 

 for an economical coal consumption, and the distribution of all raw materials, beets, 

 raw sugar, etc., under the same central control. To be able to carry out this extensive 

 program it will be necessary to increase the capital of the individual concerns. The 

 60,000 double centners (double centner=200 pounds) of sugar beets that are worked 

 up daily during the season in the eight plants of the four corners amount to a value 

 of not less than 2,600,000 marks, and the import of refined sugar from North Ger- 

 many is estimated at 500,000,000 marks. 



